Pre-production on the Warner Bros.-DC Comics pic is expected to start this summer. Reeves, the filmmaker behind the last two “Planet of the Apes” sequels, assumed “Batman” directing duties from Ben Affleck in January 2017 and has been developing the elusive project ever since. Affleck and Warner Bros. began discussing the actor-director leaving the Caped Crusader behind following “Justice League,” allowing Reeves to pick his own Bruce Wayne.

At 32, Pattinson would become one of the youngest actors to play Batman in a movie. It’s a decidedly different direction than Affleck, whose Batman was supposed to be an older version of the character, who was nearly the end of his crimefighting career (and was loosely based on the version of the character in Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns).

While I’m sure some DC Comics fans will react to this news with horror at the idea of a hunky vampire bat-man becoming the next Batman, Pattinson has quietly been building an impressive career making eclectic, interesting movies and delivering strong performances since the end of the Twilight saga. He’s worked with Claire Denis and David Cronenberg and James Gray. He’s got great taste in material and he’s a good actor. I’m ready to see what he and Matt Reeves come up with. The Batman is scheduled to open in theaters on June 25, 2021.